Times Reporter Solicits Public Reaction to Sheriff’s Scandal

In an unusual request to members of the public, San Mateo County Times reporter Michael Manekin posted the following letter on the San Mateo Daily News site requesting responses from members of the public regarding the ongoing turmoil over San Mateo County Sheriff Greg Munks.

Tuesday, May 6, 2008

Hello, My name is Michael Manekin.

I'm a reporter at the San Mateo Times, and I'm working on a story about the public's reaction to the Vegas scandal.

I want to know if county residents care about the incident--and if they do, what they think should be done. Recall the sheriff? An independent investigation? An ethics commission? A change to the county charter? Nothing at all?

If you're a resident of San Mateo County and have an opinion on this matter, I'd like to arrange an interview.

Please e-mail me at mmanekin@bayareanewsgroup.com.

Thank you,

Michael

It has been a year since Munks and Undersheriff Carlos Bolanos were detained by law enforcement officials in a sweep of brothels in Las Vegas, Nevada under a two year investigation named “Operation Dollhouse”.

Both lawmen were in Las Vegas for a relay race for law enforcement agencies throughout the Western United States. At the time, Munks and company were the subject of a fierce media storm and weathered editorial calls for their resignations issued by, among many, the Daily Journal and the Half Moon Bay Review. But weather the storm they did, with the help of compliant political allies on the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors who did nothing in response. And that has been the modis operandi for a year.

That had been the case until Friday, April 18, 2008 when the San Mateo Daily News published a stunning expose and reexamination of the Sheriff’s visit to a house of ill-repute and subsequent silence on the issue on the part of the county’s leadership. Of greatest significance in the expose is the new call for an investigation of Munks and Bolanos by the county’s two top political leaders, Congresswomen Jackie Speier and Anna Eshoo.

Since then there have been numerous articles, op-eds, letters to the editor and even accusations between candidates now running to replace Assemblyman Gene Mullin in the June Democratic Primary.

San Mateo County Supervisor Jerry Hill has been at the center of the media firestorm as he is now one of the candidates running for Assembly and had taken thousands of dollars in donations from Munks and members of Munks’ family who also hosted a fundraiser for Hill in November of 2007, just months after the brothel bust.

In response Hill has returned some of the funds he collected from Munks and, in concert with Supervisor Adrienne Tissier, is poised to suggest options for the county to respond to the Munks event, and perhaps future events by independently elected county officials.

Hill and company’s response, a full year after the brothel bust, is likely in a reaction to the intense media scrutiny and the looming election.

In preparation for that event, Times reporter Manekin is soliciting perspectives from county residents and voters to gauge voter interest in seeing that county officials take action to discipline Munks and, perhaps more importantly, publicly react to questionable behavior on the part of elected officials rather than simply turning a blind eye – or have them host a fundraiser.